Sacrifice Is Freedom's Price
by RCjuniorV2
Summary: When the ceremony to create the new Seal ends with Caim able to speak and in the world of FFXIII, See how it turns out! Review for more!
1. Chapter 1

_**REUPLOAD! I lost the account info for my old account, but here it is again! I own no rights so either of these franchises. They both belong to Square Enix. Go support them!**_

A white church, battered and destroyed housed the ceremony for the creation of the next goddess. Only three people bore witness to what happened on that fateful day, and only two lived to speak of it. Hierarch Verdelets' chants were growing in strength and volume, agitating the already distraught Caim. Oh how he wished he could stop this, but it wasn't his choice to make. The world needed a bearer to the Seal of the Goddess... And the dragon volunteered as the candidate.

A strange noise was now emanating from the direction of the Hierarch. Almost as if the space around the sigil was being distorted. Finally, the paper disappeared all together. Leaving behind the symbols, suspended in air through nothing but sheer willpower on Verdelets' sake. The edges of the large oval in the middle extended out from their original place, wrapping around the dragon. She roared in pain for a few moments, then settled, somewhat,

"There is but one thing I wish for you to remember" his pact-partner had said, bringing more tears to the already crying Caim "Angelus… My name is Angelus." Her voice was so low and constrained. At the thought of losing the only person who could, literally, see into his head, made Caim weep tears of regret. For all of the adventure they could have had ,and of all the ways they could have died, this was not how he had wanted it. "Do not weep for me, human. For you need to rebuild this world. There is a chance for peace." He could no longer speak, due to his pact with such a powerful creature, but his partner can hear his thoughts. Caim thought angrily and mournfully these words:

"To hell with peace! This world is damned anyway! I want to leave this disgusting planet and be with you!" The dragon managed to pull off a strained laugh "Typical human. Your plight weighs heavy on my heart, so I will fulfill one of your requests, and give you a compromise in the other. But I must ask of you, do you remember when we had first made our pact?" Caim nodded slowly, not sure what she was getting at "Good. Then the knowledge of what to do next will be pointless for me to reiterate. Watch carefully." Starting at her tail, the dragon began to evaporate, turning into grains of pure energy. Energy which then went above the dragon, to become a ball, resembling the same one that resides in every living being, It twisted and coiled around until no ragged edge remained.

Hierarch Verdelet was about to send this energy off toward the sky, as they had originally planned, but Caim had heard a voice. The voice of Angelus calling out to him. Only a single word was shared between the two, before her head disappeared. "RUN!"

Caim made a dash for ball of energy, picking up his sword along the way, not once breaking stride. He jumped once and kicked off the Altar, using it to propel him further toward his goal. He extended his left hand forward trying to grab at it. "Come on…" he thought in his head. "Come on…" mere millimeters away the pact had broken and the first words he had said in, what seemed like an eternity, were finally spoken; "Come on!" At that he smashed into the orb at full force. But just as it seemed he was about to pass through the other side, he didn't. He just kept on going.

The orb looked like a tunnel of swirling light now. With blurry, constantly changing faces and voices of people both familiar and unknown. One voice in particular rang true to his ear, as if calling out to him, a female for sure, but one he had never heard before. Suddenly, all the other hallucinations stopped and just hers was being displayed before him. She had strawberry blonde hair, ending about a half-inch above her chest. Wearing a white overcoat on top of a brown turtleneck. She had some sort of magic pauldron on her left shoulder. The glowing yellow lines symbolized the rank of a Sergeant. Curious.

Attached to a clamp on her left shoulder blade, a red cape. She wore knee-high black boots and for leg garments she wore only a brown half-dress over some sort of, cut off pants. How strange. Attached to her left leg was a holster… To the most amazing blade he had ever seen! The metal itself seemed to move in a wave-like pattern, ending with a pointed edge each time. And several times during this vision, had he seen this blade change shape. Folding and unfolding into multiple different forms.

Suddenly he heard the woman speak again. "Lets move." There were multiple people running with her, a young boy, a large man, a darker skinned older man and what looked like a younger, less aged model of the mysterious, red-haired beauty. Suddenly, the whole group stopped as one. They all looked uneasy. I didn't exactly feel like myself either. Suddenly he noticed something, the end of the tunnel looked as if it was growing nearer and it stopped continuing into infinity. The woman spoke again "Do you feel that? It doesn't seem right." As he approached the end of the tunnel, I heard her speak one last time "Something's coming." And all went white.

_**Please review! Thanks!**_

_**-RC**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I own no rights so either of these franchises. They both belong to Square Enix. Go support them!**_** Please Review and Follow for more! ANY feedback is helpful!**

Caim felt several things. One of which, perhaps the most important, was that of falling. His eyes refused to open against the gale that was buffetting him. Through sheer willpower, he managed to open them, though, looking down upon the strange new world he had just arrived in. He was able to see very clearly, seeing a dark, dimly lit cavern with looming structures made of iron and steel- being held aloft by massive, curving pillars. But they were not made of stone... but of the same metal. He was able to see giant metal beasts being summoned or controlled to be worked like chariots or war elephants. He found this strange. Did pacts work in this realm,too?

Not many people wandered these streets, yet he saw one group charging headlong into this strange environment, yet suddenly, they stopped, perhaps taking a rest. Caim suddenly became aware of his dillema: he was falling. Fast. He opened his Weapon Wheel, slowing time slightly, and took out a spear; Mermaid's Feast. He pointed at the ground and yelled, glad to have his voice back. "Undine's Sigh!" His voice echoed sharply, rising harshly in pitch. The spear spat balls of water that floated in the air from its tip. They hung in the air, five or six feet in between.

Caim flipped so he was feet first and plummeted through each one, using them to slow his descent. The ground was rapidly approaching. It was no use, he was going to die. He cursed himself aloud for not acting sooner. He look around for another solution. He was directly next to the cavern wall. He opened the Wheel again, selecting his main Sword and stabbing it into the cavern wall, using it to slow his fall as well as the water. He eventually came to a stop, resting level with the metal walkway. He jumped from the hilt of his blade and landed on the platform, rolling and getting to his feet... Face to face with the same woman from his vision.

Her sword was at his throat, and his still stuck in the wall. Her voice stabbed angrily at him, daggers dipped in poison; "I have questions, you have answers. Lets skip the pleasantries and get right to it. One. Who are you? Two, how did you get here? Three. Where did you come from? He grinned and spoke lightly, his voice dancing like a cobra ready to strike, poised perfectly. "Such a warm greeting. So in order, my answers are these: One. My name is Caim. Two-" He pointed up "I feel through there. Three..." He choked up, trying to recall the events of just a few moments ago.

She pressed that wonderfully crafted blade closer to his throat."Three?" He spoke as calmly as possible. He revealed everything about his world. About Pacts, Furiae, Inuart, Leonard, Seere, Manah, everything. His entire adventure spilling out from his mind and onto his tongue. Shivering slightly, she let him go. He pressed the button in the center of his Wheel, returning his weapon to him. He put it in the sheath on the back of his waist and walked to her. She spoke again.

"Show me... Show me how to make a pact..." Her voice was now warm, full of curiosity, but still tried to hold that edge of bitterness. "Why? What purpose does it-" She was on him quickly, faster than he'd expected. "Because I still don't trust you. If you want my trust, which is a very deadly thing to be on the other side of, then you'll show me." He sighed and backed away, putting his hand to his chest.

"I show you something that is very painful for me to do. Do not be repulsed, for I will only show you once." He groaned loudly and put his hand through his chest, pulling out his Seed bathing them all in a golden-white gue, holding it out for them to see. The group looked awed. The white-haired boy vomited over the side of the rail. The young girl covered her mouth, backing away slightly.

He returned the Seed to his chest, panting heavily and standing a little taller. "Are you satisfied?"

They all exchanged glances. The darker-skinned man was the first to speak? "Very impressive, magic-man. But can you tell me this? What are you doing here?" He shook his head and spoke with purpose.

"I know not my purpose here in this strange world. I only know that mine had been forsaken, doomed by the gods. I can only assume that my purpose in this one is to stop the same from happening. However, I can not hope to do this alone. May I join all of you?" He scanned the faces of the people watching him.

Their gazes quickly became unsure, skeptical even. The burly man with blonde hair spoke before any of them. "Of course!" He walked up to Caim, passing the girl and sticking his tongue out at her, making her shake with fury. He patted Caim on the back, saying whole-heartedly "Glad to have you along, buddy- erm, Caim! I'm Snow, by the way." Caim smiled and returned the motion. "Good to meet you, Snow. I look forward to our adventures together!"

They went through introducing the people there. The white boys' name was Hope, the young girls' Vanille, the dark haired man was Sazh. When it came to the womans turn, she turned away and said quickly "I'm Lightning." He smirked and walked up to her, brushing against her slightly, continuing down the path with his new friends. "Nice to make your acquaintance, Lightning." He managed to catch her scowl at his back.

They travelled for a while, Caim and the others talking about funny events in their lives... Caim didnt have much to say. Eventually, they heard a rumbling coming from all around them. "W-whats that?" Hope managed to shout above the noise. His answer followed suit. A giant scorpion-like beast propelled itself onto the platform, vibrating it wildly. It had the form of the creature it attempted to potray, but it was made of metal.

The group stood before the best, about to test their meddle in a true fight.

_**I own no rights so either of these franchises. They both belong to Square Enix. Go support them! **_** Please Review and Follow for more! ANY feedback is helpful!**


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